


Polychromatic

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Precious Peter Parker, There's a bit of Bucky/Steve, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but it's blink and you'll miss it really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-07-12 10:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15993518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "'Y-You’re my…''Kid—''Tony Starkis my…''Kid, please—''W-We’re…''Seriously—''Soulmates!!'"Or: How Tony Stark learned to stop worrying and love his soulmate.





	1. Kaleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd do a rewrite of their meeting scene in Civil War except they're platonic soulmates. Couldn't resist!

Everyone in the world had a soulmate. How or why that happened was still a mystery, but the fact remained that somewhere in the world, everyone had a soulmate. Everyone only had one soulmate—platonic or romantic.

For platonic soulmates, they were born without the ability to see color. One look into their soulmate’s eyes and they would know they’d found each other because their grey world would become bright and colorful.

For romantic soulmates, though, they knew the first words their soulmate would say to them because of the words tattooed on the inside of their wrists.

Despite everyone having a soulmate, it wasn’t unheard of for a person to never meet them because of death or distance or some other factor keeping them eternally apart. More often than not, people found their soulmates, but there was always that possibility. As Tony grew older and older, he was certain he fell into the latter camp.

He’d been born not being able to see colors and without any words on his wrists, so he knew his soulmate was platonic. While that had disappointed him somewhat when he was young, as he grew into his playboy persona it worked out just fine for him that he didn’t have a romantic soulmate somewhere in the world. There was no guilt in enjoying himself with as many women as possible when he wouldn’t end up tied to anyone.

Of course, he’d wound up tied to Pepper anyway, but she too had a platonic soulmate she hadn’t yet met, so it worked out just fine.

In the end, he was okay with never meeting his soulmate. He was surrounded by good people he trusted and, in the end, that was all that mattered, right?

Then, of course, one of those good people had to go running off with his murderer romantic soulmate instead of doing the right thing, leaving Tony no choice but to turn his back on someone he’d thought was his friend.

* * *

Peter Parker didn’t look anything like what he expected a person who could swing from buildings and stop cars with his bare hands would. Peter was just a nerdy kid who won science fairs, spent ridiculous amounts of time on overly complicated Lego sets, and—dear god, help him—owned some Iron Man merchandise.

His snooping through the photographs in that tiny apartment was interrupted by Peter’s ridiculously attractive aunt returning with tea and something that looked like cardboard. As she sat down and prepared him a cup of tea, he couldn’t help but notice the words on her inner left wrist, but although in years past he might have made the smooth comment about how he hoped whatever his first words to a woman were what was tattooed on her wrist, that wasn’t what he was there for. She passed him a cup and smiled. 

“So…what is this exactly that Peter applied for?”

“September Foundation grant. Seen his work. Love it. Can’t wait to work with him.” Tony took a bite of the mystery cardboard item and nearly gagged. He managed to suppress the urge and chew it like a normal person, and he gave May an easy smile. “Mm. What is this?”

She looked pleased, which made Tony resigned to his fate of finishing it. “Walnut date loaf. I found a recipe online and thought I’d try it out. But anyway, he never told me about that!”

“It’s very prestigious, and I don’t often award it. He might not have wanted to get your hopes up, but! Here I am.”

Her smile widened, but then it faded into an uneasy look, which she hid behind her tea cup. “Not that I’m not ecstatic that Peter was picked for this, but he’s only in high school, you know? I don’t think he has the time for it!”

“Oh, don’t worry. He’ll do a little work for me, and occasionally there will be retreats for him and the other interns to go on, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t miss much school, if at all. If all goes well, he could have some letters of recommendation and maybe even some scholarship money in his future.”

He winked at May, who was practically beaming at that point. He felt a little bad deceiving such a genuine woman, but he reasoned to himself that he really could write Peter a letter of recommendation for somewhere like MIT someday. 

Before the conversation could continue, the front door opened, and May tilted her head to look behind him with a bright expression on her face.

“Hey, May!”

“Hey! How was school today?”

“Okay. There’s this crazy car parked outside…”

There was no further comment, and Tony chuckled internally, knowing that the Tony Stark effect was working on the kid, too. May leaned over the couch, giving Peter a knowing smile, and Tony continued to stare at May for a moment for dramatic effect. He took another bite of the cardboard date loaf and slowly turned to fully reveal himself.

“Oh, Mr. Parker…”

His eyes finally met Peter’s, and any further comment he was about to make died in his throat as a sensation like electricity coursed through him. In an overwhelming surge, suddenly the world was an explosion of color.

The DVD player Peter was holding clattered to the floor as his eyes widened to comical proportions. Tony wondered if his were doing the same.

An awkward silence followed as they gaped at each other, with only the ticking from a clock in the other room breaking what otherwise seemed like a moment frozen in time. May finally cleared her throat and threw her hands up.

“Peter, you didn’t tell me you applied for a grant!”

Peter finally tore his eyes away from Tony to give May a helpless look.

“Uuhhh…I uh, I wanted it to be a surprise?”

Peter looking away was enough for Tony to be freed from his daze, and he shook his head. No, he was definitely seeing things in color now. What the hell.

He clapped his hands together as though that would break up the awkwardness. He’d had lines prepared and everything, but none of them seemed appropriate anymore. “Well, May, thank you for the tea and treat. You mind if I take a few minutes to hash things out with him?”

“No! Go ahead!” She turned to Peter again and gave him a smile. “Congratulations, Peter! Don’t keep these things from me anymore, though, all right?”

Peter gave her a weak nod as Tony got up off the couch to follow Peter to his room. Once inside, he locked the door as Peter slowly lifted his hands to clutch at his head. 

“Y-You’re my…”

“Kid—”

“ _Tony Stark_ is my…”

“Kid, please—”

“W-We’re…”

“Seriously—”

“Soulmates!!”

There it was. It was hard to deny it when it was out in the open like that. Five minutes ago, his world was grey and now it was in color because he met a spider kid.

All he wanted was another member of his team to help him in taking out Cap’s team. He hadn’t counted on the kid in front of him pacing back and forth clutching at his head and muttering to himself.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Tony Stark is my—oh my _god_. Do I tell Ned? Do I tell _anyone_? I can’t even—”

Tony held out a hand to grab Peter’s shoulder, and he felt a jolt as he did, prompting him to immediately snap his hand back. “All right. Pump the brakes there, kid.”

Peter nodded, but he was practically vibrating with excitement and chewing on his lips. He sat on his bed where he fidgeted, and Tony had to look away before his thoughts could become any more muddled.

Before he’d arrived, he’d had a plan devised to get Peter to join him in taking down Cap. He’d show the videos he’d pulled from YouTube, find Peter’s hidden suit—that access door in the ceiling looked awfully suspicious—convince him how great it would be to be a real superhero, take out Cap, sign the Accords, bring the kid home before his aunt could sense anything was amiss—boom.

Instead, here he was in an apartment in Queens, in the bedroom of his teenage soulmate.

There it was again. Admitted in his head. Honestly, if he was going to have a platonic soulmate, he would have thought it would be someone like Rhodey or Bruce. He honestly couldn’t parse that he was seeing the world in color and it was because his soulmate was a teenager.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember what he’d been planning to say. Something about the grant being a front, because hey, you’re actually the spider guy, right? He desperately wanted to change the subject and get back to his original objective, but he could hardly ignore that he’d finally met his soulmate after all those years.

“So…” He turned to look at Peter, who still looked like he was about to explode. “We’re…soulmates.”

Peter’s face lit up at the confirmation, and, if possible, he squirmed even more.

“Oh man. I can’t believe… I thought I was just dreaming when I saw color for a bit at the Stark Expo. I thought I could stop a drone, but then there you were and you told me ‘nice work, kid’ and for a second I saw color…”

Tony blinked as the memory of that night came back to him. There had been that kid who had been stupid enough to use fake repulsors on one of the drones, who he’d saved just in time. He’d thought he’d been imagining it when there was a flash of color.

“Wait…that was _you_?”

“Yeah, I was, uh…a big fan. Uncle Ben agreed to take me since I wouldn’t shut up about it.”

Tony was a little dazed to learn, only minutes after meeting him, that he’d almost lost his soulmate before ever knowing him. He swayed a little on his feet, clutching at the wall to steady himself. This was really too much to handle in one day, much less in one hour.

“Mr. Stark?”

He looked up, and the concern on Peter’s face was distressing. It was too soon for him to be sucking his soulmate into the chaotic whirlwind of his many problems. He pushed off the wall to play it casual.

“Yeah, anyway. Since we’re soulmates, that means you’ll come with me to Germany, right?”

Peter blinked. “Germany?”

“See, Cap’s kinda gone nuts and I need the Spiderling to help me set him straight, get it?”

“S-Spider…I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He folded his arms and looked everywhere but directly at Tony, and Tony sighed. In a way, it was sort of refreshing just how terrible Peter was at being dishonest. 

Still, Tony had to roll his eyes. He sat on the bed next to Peter and clapped a hand on his shoulder. There was a bit of a jolt again, but Tony ignored it this time. “I had a whole speech and everything planned, but you being my soulmate instead of just the spider kid put a bit of a damper on that, so let’s cut to the chase where you come with me and we get you into a new suit instead of that onesie and we save the world, okay?”

Peter’s eyes widened and he moved his mouth uselessly for a few moments before his voice finally worked. “But I’m not—I have—what?”

“Germany. You and me. We’ll let Aunt Hottie know and maybe figure out how to tell her about you being my soulmate.”

He stood to head for the door, but was stopped by a sudden blast of that webbing material—oh yeah, he’d been meaning to ask about that—sticking him to Peter’s door handle. He tried uselessly to pull his hand free and gave Peter an exasperated look.

Peter held up a finger and spoke slowly. “Don’t tell May about Germany. We need to talk about this first.”

Tony sighed, but he nodded. “Sure, Spiderling. Whatever you say.”

Peter lowered his hand, and his cheeks turned a little pink. “It’s S-Spider-Man.”

“Fine, Spider-Man.” Peter stood a little taller and prouder, which warmed Tony’s heart for exactly half a second before he gestured with his free hand to the one stuck to the handle. “Now get me out of this.”

“Oh, right! Sorry!”

As Peter scurried off for whatever it was he had to get him loose, Tony internally sighed. All he’d wanted was someone to steal Cap’s shield for him. Why this?


	2. In the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...yeah. I decided to continue this. Updates as I have inspiration for them. This'll basically be "How Tony Stark Became Irrevocably Emotionally Attached to His Goofy-Ass Kid Soulmate" but with some bumpiness along the way.
> 
> This one is somewhere between Civil War and Homecoming. We all know that Tony was keeping an eye on Peter through the Baby Monitor Protocol, but Peter doesn't know that, so some angst for the poor kid incoming.

Shortly after his battle with and against the Avengers, Peter had been flying high. He couldn’t believe that he was able to casually talk to _Captain America_ and steal his shield like it was nothing, and be that cool guy who prevented the bird dude and Steve’s murderer soulmate from doing whatever they’d been trying to do. Well, sort of. For a while, at least. Then he’d been the one to come up with the idea to take out the giant guy, even though the giant guy still kinda knocked him out of commission. It had all been an excitable blur that had left him rambling into his phone camera and giving Happy quote, “the worst headache I’ve ever had. I’m too old for this shit.”

Then Mr. Stark had come along to drop him off at his apartment. He knew that after he’d left the battle, a lot of things had happened, including something terrible happening to Colonel Rhodes, so it would make sense for Mr. Stark to be less snarky than usual. Still, they’d made a silly video for May and Mr. Stark had worn that ridiculous cat shirt, and more importantly, Mr. Stark was letting him keep the absolutely amazing Spider-Man suit, so he’d felt a little bold.

“Can…can I have _your_ phone number?” Although it had come out much more shyly than intended, he’d managed to ask. They _were_ soulmates, after all, so it wasn’t that crazy of a request to want to talk to him on a regular basis.

“Ah, see, someone will contact you. Just keep in touch with Happy and remember what I said about stressing him out.” Mr. Stark had reached over then, and Peter was filled with the most intense feeling of comfort he’d ever experienced when he thought Mr. Stark—his _soulmate_ —was hugging him. Then Mr. Stark had pushed the car door opened and pulled back. “It’s not a hug, I’m just grabbing the door for you. We’re not…we’re not there yet.”

Then Mr. Stark had turned away and Peter was left on the curb with his new suit and a whole lot of optimism.

Then radio silence. He’d been ghosted by his soulmate.

He saw what had happened with Captain America on the news, so it was entirely possible that Mr. Stark was too wrapped up in other things to give much thought to his soulmate, but he gave Happy daily updates on his heroic exploits and hadn’t even been contacted by Happy, much less Mr. Stark.

The self-doubt started to creep in, settling in his mind that Tony Stark didn’t want someone like Peter as his soulmate. Why would a genius billionaire want some kid from Queens? If he wasn’t Spider-Man, there would be absolutely nothing remarkable about him. Even then, Mr. Stark was surrounded by superheroes, so what did Peter really have to offer?

There were stories of soulmate rejection, but it usually happened with romantic soulmates, and usually for some stupid reason like they had a same-sex soulmate and had been brought up in a time or with the mindset where that sort of thing was wrong. There hadn’t been any noteworthy examples of platonic soulmate rejection.

Maybe his would be the first to make it into the news. He could just see the headline: _Tony Stark rejects unworthy teenage soulmate_.

Just because he’d idolized Tony Stark for a good chunk of his life didn’t mean that he was owed even a fraction of that admiration. He thought back on when Mr. Stark had admitted to being Iron Man, and how Peter’s nerd worship had evolved to include hero worship as well. He made himself his own suit made of cardboard and magic markers, followed every exploit of Mr. Stark’s, and had talked Ben and May’s ears off about how he wanted to be as great as Tony Stark someday. He’d even gotten a genuine Stark Industries robotics kit for Christmas one year, even though, as he found out later, they couldn’t really afford it. 

Then Ben had agreed to take him to Stark Expo, where he’d met _The_ Iron Man in person—well, sort of—and he’d had that flash of color for the briefest moment. When he’d told Ben and May about it, they’d excitedly told him that he’d been around his soulmate. 

Just thinking about Ben made Peter feel even more intensely lonely. He loved May with all his heart, he really did, but no one was better at heart-to-heart talks than his Uncle Ben. They’d grab a couple of root beers and go out to the fire escape, where they would talk for hours about whatever was bothering Peter. Ben would give him advice and reassurance, and Peter would feel better about everything.

He remembered, with a painful constriction in his chest, how Ben had mentioned how much he looked forward to sharing a real beer with Peter someday when they could really talk man-to-man.

If Ben were alive, Peter knew he could go to him about Mr. Stark. _Uncle Ben, I don’t think my soulmate wants me_. He could almost _feel_ Ben’s reassuring arm around his shoulders, letting him know that everything would be okay.

At that moment, he missed Ben so much that it took his breath away and made his legs nearly collapse underneath him.

As it was, he fell heavily onto the couch and sat there waiting until May got home. He gave her a small wave as she went to take off her uniform, and when she came back, he hoped he didn’t look as pathetic as he felt.

“You feel like takeout for dinner tonight, Pete? Maybe pizza?”

Rather than answer her question, he sighed. “Hey, May?”

“What’s up, Pete?” She gave him a big smile, which made him feel guilty for what he was about to ask.

“You never did tell me how you and Ben met.”

Her smile fell off her face, and her right hand reflexively went to grasp at the words on her left wrist. Peter had seen them many times before. _Oh, shit! I’m so sorry!_ He’d always found them funny, but had never thought to ask how that first meeting had gone. May quickly regained her composure and brushed her hair out of her face. She sat on the couch next to him and looked him in the eye.

“Well, let me tell you, my mother had a hell of a time trying to avoid explaining what that little four-letter word on my wrist meant.” She chuckled as she lightly ran her fingers over the words. “I was…19? and walking around campus when some idiot ran right into me and knocked me over. I was so angry!”

Peter smiled at that. He’d seen the words on Ben’s wrist to match May’s. _Watch where you’re going, you idiot!_

“Imagine my surprise when I realized that the idiot was my soulmate!” She laughed, genuinely, and Peter had to join her. 

It was good to see her be able to smile about Ben again. They’d carefully avoided the topic if possible, but Peter knew, because he could hear it, that May still woke up in the middle of the night to find that Ben really was gone and would cry herself back to sleep.

Growing up around Ben and May, Peter had been eagerly anticipating the day he met his soulmate. True, his was platonic, which meant the relationship would be different, but he wanted a person who would complete him the way Ben and May completed each other. A song would come on the radio, and Ben would convince May to dance badly around the living room with him. They held hands and exchanged kisses when they thought Peter wasn’t looking. They smiled and laughed together even when life was trying to keep them down. May had tried to muffle her screams of agony when the police officer brought home Peter, covered in Ben’s blood…

Peter shook his head before his thoughts could get too dark, and he gave May a wry smile.

“Were you disappointed at all that it was him?”

She tapped her chin as if in thought, but her smile was knowing. “Mm…maybe a little at first. Ben Parker was a huge nerd, as you know.”

Oh, he _knew_. It was because of Ben that he’d watched all those old sci-fi movies. It was because of Ben that he could build such complicated things out of Legos. It was because of Ben that he could fish an old computer out of the garbage and turn it into something viable. Most of his science pun shirts were gifts from Ben.

“But then I got to know him, and I realized _why_ he was my soulmate. How boring would my life had been if that idiot had never bumped into me?”

She laughed again, but this time Peter didn’t join her. Was that really all that was needed? But it was hard to get to know someone who wouldn’t even talk to you, even through a third party. His entire body felt heavy knowing that he might never have the chance to prove that he and Mr. Stark really were meant to be soulmates.

“Why, is something wrong, Pete?”

Peter bit his lip, wondering if he should bring up Mr. Stark to May. She wasn’t Ben, but she loved him and wanted to do right by him the same way Ben had.

_I met my soulmate, but I don’t think he wants me._

_Tony Stark is my soulmate. Do you think that’s why he’s disappointed with me? Because I’m not good enough for a hero like that?_

_Do you think it’s possible to get it wrong and someone isn’t actually your soulmate?_

He swallowed down all of those questions and shuddered. “I just…really miss Ben.”

May’s mouth fell open and her eyes started to glisten. “Oh, honey, I do, too.”

May wrapped her arms around him then, and Peter closed his eyes as he leaned into her embrace.


	3. Where My Demons Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while to write because Tony is a little frustrating sometimes, ha ha. Back to Tony's POV, with Homecoming up through the ferry incident.

Tony didn’t deserve a soulmate like Peter. That became abundantly clear as he watched Peter’s daily Spider-Man exploits through the Baby Monitor Protocol. 

Peter was everyone’s hero. He didn’t need to save the world from aliens or killer robots or anything like that to prove his merit. He stopped thieves, helped old ladies cross the street, did a backflip at the request of a man on the street—seemingly small things that added up. Peter would sometimes mumble to himself about it not being heroic enough, but Tony disagreed. There was nothing wrong with being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man making day-to-day life better.

In one of the videos, Peter rescued a bunch of kittens from a storm drain. He grunted and strained to reach the panicking babies, which he held with the utmost gentleness until they were on solid ground again. 

“Mom’s over there, guys! Go on!” The squeaky little kittens ran over to their mother, and Peter’s gloved hand waved at them. “Bye!”

Tony had to watch that one again, because it was heartwarming at the same time it was baffling just how good-hearted Peter was.

Honestly, Peter was just so _good_. Even Steve Rogers didn’t have a moral compass like that, where he was good and kind and looked out for the little guy because it was the right thing to do. How many of the rest of them would stop a petty thief? Take the time to rescue kittens?

The last thing Tony wanted was for that goodness to be corrupted by his horrible influence. It made him feel ill just thinking about how Peter might turn out if they spent time together.

He shouldn’t have recruited Peter, shouldn’t have taken him to Germany. If he’d just taken matters into his own hands instead of trying to involve a kid, he wouldn’t have met Peter and could have happily lived his life without ever meeting his soulmate. Peter could have gone on being a neighborhood superhero who had nothing but great things ahead of him.

He did have to say, though, that the world was beautiful now that he could see colors. He’d never really been able to appreciate the beauty of the world when it was in shades of grey. He was sure there was a metaphor in there for why meeting your soulmate allowed you to see such beauty, but that wouldn’t explain why romantic soulmates only had words on their wrists.

Honestly, the whole soulmate thing was ridiculous in general. In what world would it be right for a good-hearted hero and a jaded old man who hurt everyone around him to be soulmates?

There was a part of Tony that was selfishly glad that he had met his soulmate. He could now see all the beautiful colors in the world, and he was at least aware that there was someone out there who really was completely genuine.

He didn’t think he’d ever be able to accept that they were soulmates, but he was at least glad to know that Peter Parker existed.

* * *

During one particular viewing of Peter’s footage for the day, Tony was greeted with the sight of Peter wearing only the mask and talking to himself in the mirror. At first Tony was amused by Peter’s impressions of the other Avengers, but then he went off on a different course that made Tony’s chest ache.

“Oh, it was nothing. Stopped an alien invasion. Saved the entire universe. You know, no big deal.”

Peter cleared his throat, and then he flipped himself around as he switched to what was obviously supposed to be a Tony Stark impression.

“Mr. Parker, no— _Peter_ , you are…amazing. I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I’m proud to be your soulmate, and I think you should be the next Avenger. You can even room with Bruce Banner and Thor if you want to.”

Peter flipped back around and waved his hands.

“Oh, Mr. Stark, that really means a lot to me, because…you’ve always been my hero, you know? And it’s a real honor to be your soulmate—”

Tony had to turn it off then, because it was impossible to listen to without feeling sick.

* * *

Stay low to the ground. It’s never too early to think about college. Bits of advice he hoped that Peter would take.

He tried not to think about Peter trying to take down a metal bird man with some sort of alien weaponry. That was something best left to the feds, not to a kid. He had the feeling that Peter wanted to be a Big Damn Hero, but he didn’t need to take on the Big Bad to do that. There was really nothing wrong with staying low to the ground and being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

He was just happy that Peter hadn’t gotten past the Training Wheels Protocol yet. He could only imagine the chaos if Peter found out about his suit’s AI and all the other goodies that came with it. With any luck it wouldn’t be until Peter was done with grad school.

Or, that was the thought until F.R.I.D.A.Y. helpfully informed him that the tracker in Peter’s suit had been removed and the Training Wheels Protocol passed or overridden. He’d clearly underestimated Peter’s intelligence and abilities.

The Baby Monitor Protocol was still in place, though, so he was privy to Peter’s conversation with his AI—Karen, Peter called her—about learning the web shooter settings—confirmation, he clearly manually overrode the Training Wheels Protocol—and a girl he obviously had a massive crush on. 

“What if she’s expecting someone like Tony Stark? I mean, imagine how disappointed she’d be when she sees me.”

“Well, if I were her, I wouldn’t be disappointed at all.”

“Thanks, Karen… What about Mr. Stark, though? He’s…he’s obviously disappointed that it’s me.”

I’m not disappointed, Tony wanted to say. Not in Peter, at least. No, he was disappointed that Peter had wound up with him as a soulmate and not someone else more fitting—more _worthy_. Someone who wouldn’t set a bad example. Someone who wasn’t a black hole of misery that always seemed to do more harm than good.

Although he wouldn’t dream of backing out of it, it pained Tony to watch Rhodey’s physical therapy at the compound. Not because he resented Rhodey or the fact that Rhodey needed the therapy in the first place, but because it was just another reminder of how he hurt the people he loved just by being Tony Stark. If he hadn’t tried to pick a fight with Steve, if they hadn’t gone after the plane, if he’d installed a parachute on Rhodey’s suit, if he’d just been a little bit _faster_ —

“Hey, Rhodey! How’re the legs working out?”

Rhodey let out a tired sigh as Tony grabbed a hold of him, allowing him to relax his arms from where he’d been gripping the parallel bars. While Tony held firmly, Rhodey lifted and tested each of the leg braces, frowning when he moved the right one.

“They might need to be recalibrated. The right isn’t as responsive as the left.”

“Oh, yeah? Let me take a look.” He helped Rhodey get over to one of the couches, so that he could remove the braces and look them over. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. run diagnostics.”

As F.R.I.D.A.Y. went over the details of the braces to pinpoint the issue, Rhodey relaxed into the couch and chuckled.

“That spider kid you brought to Berlin was on the news. Big rescue at the Washington Monument. Saved a bunch of nerds from an elevator.”

Tony flinched at the mention of Peter, but if Rhodey noticed, he didn’t say anything. He knew, of course, about the rescue. Even if he hadn’t seen it on the news, he’d seen the firsthand footage. The suit’s technology had been used well, and Peter’s quick thinking meant that no one even got hurt. It was the kind of heroic effort only that kid could be capable of.

Without looking up, Tony clicked his tongue. “Yeah, fun fact. That kid is my soulmate.”

A heartbeat passed and Tony was distinctly aware of Rhodey’s eyes burning into the side of his face. “That’s not funny, Tony.”

Tony sighed and lowered the brace to look Rhodey in the eye. “I wish I was joking, Rhodes.”

They stared at each other in silence for a long time, and Tony knew that Rhodey was looking for any sign of bullshit. Since Rhodey knew him better than anyone, he was the master of detecting even the slightest hint of fecal matter in whatever Tony said.

So, when he finally closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, Tony knew that Rhodey believed him. “Well, shit.”

“Yep.”

“That why you brought him to Berlin?”

“I didn’t know he was my soulmate when I went looking for him. But anyway, there was clearly some sort of cosmic mix-up, because there’s no way that kid should have been matched up with me, platonic or otherwise.”

Tony went back to tinkering with the leg brace, but he was aware that Rhodey was watching him. He knew Rhodey well enough to know that the expression he was using was one of both sympathy and pity, and he never particularly liked it when anyone looked at him that way. 

“This is going to sound trite as hell, but…it’s okay to be happy, Tony.”

Tony had to scoff. “I’m plenty happy. I’ve got you and Pepper and Happy. That’s all I need.”

“And you’re always _going_ to have me and Happy. And if you don’t massively screw up you’re always going to have Pepper, too. But you can let other people in, Tony.”

“Yep, great plan. I started letting Steve Rogers in and he destroyed my arc reactor. I let Bruce Banner in and he literally disappeared off the face of the earth.” Tony sighed and joined Rhodey on the couch, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Why weren’t _you_ my soulmate, Rhodey?”

“That’s easy. Because I hate you too much.”

They both knew that was the biggest lie Rhodey had ever told, and they shared a smile. “But seriously, man. He’s your _soulmate_. I bet there’s a reason. I bet you’d both be real happy if you gave him a chance.”

Tony’s smile faded and he rubbed a hand over his face. “See, I have this little problem of hurting everything and everyone I love no matter what I do, and if I bring some kid into my life he’ll just get caught up in my vortex of bullshit and get hurt. Or, hell, if he’s my soulmate, maybe being around me would just turn him into the same sad shell of a person. You think I want to do that to him?”

“I’m not going to argue that you’re full of shit, but not for the reasons you think. Hand me those braces.”

Tony did as he was asked, and Rhodey waved off his hands when he started to try to help to put them back on. Although Rhodey also got up on his own, Tony watched him carefully, taking mental notes about how the braces were working and how he could improve on the technology so that walking could basically be the same as it had been before. When Rhodey was fully upright, Tony stood to help him back over to the parallel bars, where Rhodey paused to give him a questioning look.

“You can see colors now, then?”

“Yep. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Your suit? Boring. Might have to give you the Iron Patriot update again.”

Rhodey groaned and rolled his eyes. “Please don’t remind me of that.”

“I will never let that one go. That and “War Machine Rox” are pure gold.” Tony laughed as he dodged Rhodey’s half-hearted swipe and then offered his shoulder for Rhodey to lean on.

Tony wondered if Rhodey was right and he should at least try to reach out to Peter. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to congratulate him on his success in D.C. Encouraging the right type of heroism could only be good for him, after all.

* * *

Any pride Tony might have felt for Peter over his heroics in D.C. was quickly replaced with anger at Peter’s blatant disregard for the safety of others and, perhaps more importantly to Tony, his own safety.

It was one thing to stop an incident in progress and save the lives of many people, as he had with the elevator in the Washington Monument. It was something else entirely to be the cause of that incident and put a lot of people needlessly in danger. 

Tony knew that very well.

He later found Peter on Governors Island—not wearing his mask, the fool—and his frustration at Peter and himself was too much to contain, and he chewed Peter out. Peter, naïve little budding hero that he was, tried to argue his case, but Tony had had it. He tried to pass off the notion of Peter dying as just being something he didn’t want on his conscience because oh, wouldn’t _that_ be inconvenient, but it went much deeper than that. He’d screwed up by taking Peter to Berlin, by giving Peter a suit, by stepping into that apartment and looking Peter in the eye. He’d probably still be getting churros from old Dominican women and stopping cars from hitting buses full of children.

He’d still be a _real_ hero.

“I just…I just wanted to be like _you_!”

“And I wanted you to be better.”

He was used to people hero-worshipping him even though he didn’t deserve it, but that was easy enough to brush off. It killed him, though, that Peter thought so highly of him. 

“Okay, it’s not working out. I’m gonna need the suit back.”

“For how long?”

“Forever.”

“No no no! Please, please, please, Mr. Stark, you don’t understand! Please, this is all I have! I’m nothing without this suit!”

Peter looked so upset, but that just made Tony even angrier. He _had_ been something. He could still _be_ something. 

“If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it. Okay?” It also killed him just how much he was sounding like Howard Stark in that moment. There was always someone who was or had been better in Howard Stark’s eyes. There was always a reason he was a failure in Howard Stark’s eyes. “God, I sound like my dad.”

Tony waited for Peter to hand it over, but Peter shifted awkwardly and moved his mouth wordlessly before he mumbled in defeat. “…I don’t have any other clothes.”

“Okay, we’ll sort that out.” He pulled out his phone, intending to call Happy to bring both a car and a change of clothes for Peter to a place where they could meet up in Manhattan, but as he turned away, Peter stopped him with an outburst.

“Are...aren’t you supposed to be my soulmate?!”

Tony turned back to Peter with a sigh and a shake of his head. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It...it means that we’re supposed to _understand_ each other! You’re supposed to understand why I’m doing this! Why I _need_ to do this!”

Rhodey understood him. Pepper understood him. Peter looked at him like he was a hero to be emulated. That wasn’t understanding. That was youthful ignorance and hero worship, and he didn’t need that in anyone, much less a soulmate.

That was finally enough for Tony to break.

“No, I don’t understand, and I don’t want to. I don’t need a soulmate, kid. Especially not you.”

He regretted the words the second they left his mouth, but he couldn’t bring himself to take them back. He chanced a look at Peter, and he regretted that decision even more.

The expression on Peter’s face made Tony’s chest tighten painfully. It was one of complete devastation—dismay so intense that anyone with a heart would want to help him feel better.

After all, what kind of monster rejected their soulmate?

Luckily, despite what others might have said, Tony Stark was a monster without a heart, and he ignored his own feeling of agony at the realization that he’d just rejected his soulmate and pushed it down to rot with the rest of his feelings in his gut. After taking a deep breath, he put on a pair of sunglasses in a dismissive gesture. 

“Happy will bring you some clothes and take you home. Let’s get you off this island first.”

Peter moved his mouth again, but he closed it and took several steps back, looking completely dazed and disoriented, in addition to emotionally destroyed. 

Tony had done that to him. No matter what he did, he hurt people. 

Peter put the mask back on long enough for Tony to fly him back over to Manhattan proper, and then he wrenched himself away from Tony as soon as his feet touched the ground. If it hadn’t been his own fault, Tony might have felt a little hurt at Peter’s change in demeanor.

In any other circumstance, the “I survived my trip to NYC” oversized shirt and pink Hello Kitty pajama pants that Happy brought as a change of clothing would have been hilarious and prompted a lot of ribbing and laughter. Peter looked so distraught, though, that any humor was sucked out of the situation. 

Rather than immediately fly off in the Mark 47, Tony followed Peter to the car Happy had brought, and opened the door for him. Peter still wasn’t looking at him, and he still looked like all the joy had been sucked out of his life.

Tony had done that to him.

Peter got into the car without a word and didn’t even look up as he slammed the door shut. A part of Tony was filled with an intense ache as he watched the car pull away, but he knew it was for the best.

It was better to nip it in the bud then, rather than wait until they were too attached and it was too late for Peter to get out unharmed.


	4. **STATUS UPDATE - NOT A CHAPTER**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: I tried to be as vague as possible to avoid spoilers, but I do discuss Endgame here. If you're even a little worried about spoilers then I suggest skipping this. The tl;dr is that I _will_ be continuing this fic!

I normally dislike when authors post status updates when you’re hoping for a new chapter, but I keep getting messages asking when I’m going to continue this and this is an easier way to address that.

Yes, I absolutely plan on continuing. I actually have a big chunk of the next chapter mostly written, but since it covers the last part of Homecoming and then some, I need to sit down and watch the movie again to make sure I cover everything I need to. I can’t promise a timeline on that, but I _will_ continue it.

I haven’t written anything for it partly because I hit a serious winter slump and didn’t want to write _anything_ and then it came so close to the release of Endgame that I wanted to see how that would turn out before I planned how I wanted to approach my fanfic.

Well, I haven’t seen Endgame yet, but since it’ll probably be a while before I’ll get a chance to do so, I opted to spoil myself since I know I won’t be able to hold out. 

Knowing how Endgame goes, I can say for sure that my fic will be a divergence from canon. Well, even more of a divergence than the whole soulmate thing is to begin with. Once I see Endgame, I’ll decide how much of a divergence it will be and whether I’ll stick with my original plan or follow parts of canon before going off on my own.

I’m sorry it’s gone so long without an update, but that’s where I’m at now! I’m deeply flattered by the attention this fic’s gotten, and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy where I plan to take the fic in the future. 😊


End file.
